A limited printing of excerpts of the Book of Mormon in Hebrew was available some time ago. Now that there are Hebrew speaking teachers and students in Israel with ability in English, they can compare the lesson material and the chapters of the Book of Mormon with these excerpts. Their commentary will be collected and submitted for possible use in revising the existing Hebrew translation work of the Book of Mormon. A Hebrew vocabulary list is developing so that typical "LDS" terminology can be consistent. The transliteration of those words will be included as much as possible. The suggestions and transliteration vocabulary will be added to the lesson material, even in retrospect, so that teachers and students can refer back to previous discussions and material. The first submission of each of these lessons on the Internet will be modified by class participation and the team teaching assistance of Daphna Cohen and Daniel Rona who live in Israel and Mike Nichols and Don Parry (BYU Hebrew instructor) who are in Israel at the time being along with the linguistic help of Claudia Safran Rona who is teaching Hebrew at BYU, Provo.

Helps for the Teacher and Student

The supplemental information for preparing the Gospel Doctrine lessons in Hebrew is only intended to add insights of the Jewish manner of teaching and thinking. This is to assist Latter-day Saint Jews and others in (and out of) Israel to better understand the manner of learning and reasoning in scriptures written by ancient prophets of people that originally came from the Land of Israel.
 

Jewish insights may simply help Latter-day Saints better understand Judah and thereby bring our two families closer together. It is necessary for the teacher and the student to relate and coordinate this information with the material provided in their respective lesson manuals. There is no intent to replace the material in the Gospel Doctrine Lesson Manual for year 2000.
 

The young prophet Nephi gave us a substantial key to understanding the scriptures. Note how subtly he teaches us through a 'chiasmas' (an order of words listed in one direction to a center thought and then listed in the other direction in reverse order).
 

1. learning of my father   2. highly favored of the Lord 2. knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God     1. learning of the Jews

I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days.           Yea, I make a record in the language of my father, which consists of the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians. (1 Nephi 1:1-2)

 

The "center point" of his instruction is the gift he acknowledges, the knowledge of "mysteries." A synonym for "mysteries" is the "subtle understanding" of God's word. This is available through the "Gift of the Holy Ghost."
 

"For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round." (1 Nephi 10:19)

The center point is 'sandwiched' by "learning of my father' and 'learning of the Jews'. This material suggests that the Book of Mormon can be better understood through the 'learning of the Jews' and the "Gift of the Holy Ghost." This adds insight to the study of the same religion and scriptures that Nephi brought from Israel.
 

The basis of Jewish learning is based on the "Torah," that are the first five books of the "Old Testament."
 
 

"The Bible is holy to Jews because it represents the Word of God. This is particularly true of the Torah which is, so to speak, God's direct statement. The halakhah, or Jewish law, which is the authoritative guide for a Jew's life, is mainly based on the Torah, so obviously study of the Torah as well as the rest of the Bible is one of the prime religious duties."

 

"The custom of reading the Torah publicly is very, very ancient --- originating with Ezra in the fifth-fourth centuries B.C.E. At some later date a reading from the Nevi'im was added; this corresponding passage from the Prophets is known as the Haftorah." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)

The statement, "The Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion" can be better understood by seeing remains of Roman architecture so prevalent in Israel. Each stone is angled to wedge the others in place. The center stone is like the center point. The center point in a chiasmus is the focusing on the Lord. The Book of Mormon's purpose is to focus on the Lord, the God of Israel. Consider the five "Standard Works (scriptures)" that Latter-day Saints use, the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. They are like an arch made of five stones. Every stone in the arch is necessary to have the advantage of the structure which holds a building in place as well as having the enjoyment of the beauty in something that holds itself together. This is a visual metaphor of truth.
 

Additionally, the Book of Mormon gives us a history of Jews leaving the land of Israel and going to what is called the land of America. This history is valuable because it is an unprejudiced account. Daniel Ludlow taught that even true history is usually prejudiced by the writer and his perceptions as he saw events happening. Conversely, true prophesy does not have prejudice, because it has not happened yet. He also taught that scriptural history has the least amount of prejudice because in most cases it carries a message of future events. It is prophesy in the form of history. Therefore, the history is accurate.
 

The ancient prophets could not (and would not) write all that happened. They selected to write those things which would apply as lessons of the future.
 
 

"And a hundredth part of the proceedings of this people, which now began to be numerous, cannot be written upon these plates; but many of their proceedings are written upon the larger plates, and their wars, and their contentions, and the reigns of their kings." (Jacob 3:13)

 

"Wherefore, I chose these things, to finish my record upon them, which remainder of my record I shall take from the plates of Nephi; and I cannot write the hundredth part of the things of my people." (Words Of Mormon 1:5)

 

"But behold, a hundredth part of the proceedings of this people, yea, the account of the Lamanites and of the Nephites, and their wars, and contentions, and dissensions, and their preaching, and their prophecies, and their shipping and their building of ships, and their building of temples, and of synagogues and their sanctuaries, and their righteousness, and their wickedness, and their murders, and their robbings, and their plundering, and all manner of abominations and whoredoms, cannot be contained in this work." (Helaman 3:14)

 

"And there had many things transpired which, in the eyes of some, would be great and marvelous; nevertheless, they cannot all be written in this book; yea, this book cannot contain even a hundredth part of what was done among so many people in the space of twenty and five years;" (3 Nephi 5:8)

The exercise in the year 2000 Gospel Doctrine lesson manual has the following events jumbled and asks the student to arrange them in chronological order so that their relative importance can be recognized. We list them here in order so that the transliteration of Hebrew can be seen and used.
 
 
 
 

1. The First Vision	1. Rishon
2. Book of Mormon is Translated	2. Sefer
3. Melchizedec Priesthood is Restored	3. Kehunah
4. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Organized	4. Kehilat
5. Apostles are Called	5. Schlihim
6. Temple Work is Restored	6. Beit Migdash